Tag Archives: Wisdom

Once again we have made it to the final chapter in Proverbs, chapter 31.

In summary, this is a chapter about motherly advice.

Think through your decisions. Don’t be a young Tony Stark (“frat boy” or playboy, getting drunk, partying, and fooling around with women), but be better than Iron Man (strong, smart, and dedicated to doing good for others).

And of course, don’t hurry love, no you’ll just have to wait. Trust in the good Lord, not matter how long it takes …

Wait … I just quoted song lyrics …

The great thing about Proverbs is that these are guidelines and advice that apply to anyone. Chapter 31 may be written to a man, but the advice can just as easily be applied to women, simply swap the genders, and it basically applies.

Bob and I went over to the church to see if we could help our assistant pastor and some friends who were busting up the concrete getting ready to put in a new parking area by the daycare center. Kevin, who is also a farmer, had brought in his own Bobcat and was adroitly ripping up the ground and dumping it into the truck. Bob and I are always so impressed by this guy’s expertise in all things concerning the practical working of dirt.

I’m also pretty amazed at how people invented and manufactured the Bobcat. Or the concrete it busts up for that matter! Or how about Apollo 13? A popular movie from years ago, I just admire at the ingenuity of bringing them back home safely—with slide rules.Continue reading

He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered. -Proverbs 28:26, KJV

We live in a world today that frequently tells us to “just follow your heart, it will lead you true.” And many people rely on their reason even knowing they know very little of our reality.

That second point is striking. The most optimistic scientists say we may know 6% of everything there is to know about the Universe. Yet, atheists will argue there is no evidence for God. But there is at least 94% that we don’t even know about!

He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet, and drinketh damage. –Proverbs 26:6, KJV

The past two entries from Michaeland me covered answering the fool in various ways. The next one after this from Dawn does a great job unifying Proverbs 26:4-5.

For this, I will look at how we can play the fool and be played by the fool with proverbs.

Playing the Fool

We may be very godly, have Scripture memorized (or be very quick looking up passages in our Bible apps on our phones 😉), and we have the right verse to respond to everyone.

But sometimes, people don’t need the Bible verse. Either they are adamantly opposed to our messageor they simply needed a hug and a listening ear, and our perfect verse led to a tantrum or to their brain shutting down and stop listening to us. Or worse, they lash out at others or injure themselves.

Played by the Fool

This second point is more prevalent in our world. This is the person who knows just enough about religion or academics or life in general to be dangerous.

This is the person who takes a Bibke verse out of context to prove you wrong, uses a blend of world religions’ teachings to show how much more about the world they know (but misapply much of it due to contradicting the Bible), or tries to help make the world better without accounting for human sin (while pointing out the sins of humanity).

This person speaks without knowledge and hurts others more by driving them away from God (see Jeremiah 10).

Avoiding the Cup of Wrath

What we all fail to realize – whether playing or getting played by the fool – is that we are setting each other up to drink damage, from the ultimate damage, God’s cup of wrath.

But there is a relief. We can allow the Holy Spirit to guide us (and help us keep our mouths shut).

But only if we repent and believe in the One who drank that cup for us (Isaiah 51:17, Jeremiah 25:15, Habakkuk 2:15–16, Matthew 20:20–23) are we able to receive the Holy Spirit.

Anyone who uses wise-sounding or even scriptural words to cause division or lead others away from Jesus Christ is only cutting them off at the feet so they stumble straight into eternal destruction.

If you are reading this and you haven’t yet taken advantage the various WordPress University sites, I highly recommend you look into it! First of all, they’re free.

Well, okay, we all know what that means. There is a cost somewhere to somebody. Those who write for and administrate the courses have to get a paycheck somehow, and time is money. So in the interest of accuracy, we’ll just say it’s FREE to those of us who take the courses.

Alright, try again. There is no “pecuniary remuneration” on the part of the student, but one does need to invest a currency concerning which there is no refund—TIME. To get out of the course, you have to dig, experiment, and try, try again. These courses are intentional, at times frustrating, but to new writers, very rewarding. As usual, you get out of it what you put into it.Continue reading